The phone conversation was going well until I asked a surprising question. I had been speaking to a missionary from an outreach organization who was soliciting a commitment of financial support from our church for his efforts, and I guess …Read More

Tabletalk: How did you become a Christian? How are you serving God in Scotland? Mez McConnell: I grew up in Ireland in the foster care system for most of my early life. In my teens, one of my friends died …Read More

According to some estimates, there are more than one hundred thousand distinct parachurch organizations in the United States alone. Parachurch organizations are typically defined as Christian organizations that exist alongside (para) the local church without being under the oversight of …Read More

Of the many legacies of the Protestant Reformation, few have had greater and wider-reaching impact than the rediscovery of the biblical understanding of vocation. Before the Reformation, the only people with a vocation or calling were those who were engaged …Read More

The ordinary Christian life is not the opposite of the radical Christian life. The ordinary Christian life is a radical life. The ordinary Christian life is a life of daily trusting Christ; daily repenting of our sins; daily abiding in …Read More

“Meanwhile, I am left with the Atheist on my hands,” Dorothy Sayers once penned to C.S. Lewis in a letter in which she sought some practical advice from the popular Oxford apologist. She went on to write, “I do not …Read More

In one of the missionary passages of the New Testament, the Apostle John reported to Jesus that the disciples had seen someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and had tried to stop him. The reason John gave was that …Read More

As I was sitting alone in the cafeteria one afternoon, far from home, overwhelmed and lonely on a campus of twenty thousand coeds, an older student walked up, smiled, and asked if he could join me. He took a seat …Read More

Who has the authority to command others? What gives someone the right to command someone else? This question can be raised with respect to every area of life: family life (parents), church life (pastors, elders), civil life (governors, rulers, and …Read More

The Great Commission. Neither the words “great” nor “commission” are in the text, but the descriptor fits. This “authoritative order, charge, or direction” is “unusually large, extreme, and notable” (borrowing phrases from textbook definitions of both words). But why? The …Read More